Flower Festival
by Peace Phoenix
Summary: It was supposed to be a little family trip to some flower festival, but with demi-gods, nothing turns out the way it's supposed to be. So instead of listening to Persephone's facts about flowers, Nico gets some very startling news about Percy. Can he help the Sea Prince, or is it already too late? Nico/Percy slash


PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || Nicercy || Flower Festival || Nicercy || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO

Title: Flower Festival – What Blooms in the Underworld

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; set after both series

PJatO Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, of course. They are all copyright by the old Greeks. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, hurt/comfort, fluff, cross-dressing, explicit intercourse, anal, oral, underwater-sex, shadow-travel-sex, shoujo-ai, hetero

Main Pairing: Nico/Percy

Side Pairings: Frank/Hazel, Jason/Reyna, Chris/Clarisse, Piper/Annabeth, Malcolm/Katie, Lou/Miranda, Jake/Will, Hades/Persephone, Paul/Sally, Percy/Annabeth (past), Triton/Percy (kind-of-nearly-forced)

Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Hazel Levesque, Hades, Persephone, Demeter, Mrs. O'Leary, Sally Blofis, Paul Blofis, Frank Zhang, Jason Grace, Reyna Anderson, Clarisse la Rue, Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean, Malcolm Cage, Katie Gardner, Miranda Gardner, Lou Ellen, Will Solace, Jake Mason, Leo Valdez, Nyssa Black, Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Summary: Half of Camp Half-Blood decides to take a little trip to a flower show (some not all that willing). Where they meet Sally and Paul, just to receive rather unexpected news.

Second place of my Percy Pairing Poll - and so far the one I enjoyed writing the most. Wonder why. I'm a bit irritated that it wasn't first place though. Oh well, it seems you guys love Apollo/Percy more than Nico/Percy. Which means that I still have a lot of work to do converting you to my Church of Nicercy-Awesomeness. See this as the first step of said masterplan. I love it, really. It's one of the oneshots that I myself really, really like. And those are very few...

**Flower Festival**

_What Blooms in the Underworld_

Jake was gloomily staring over at his younger brother, who returned the glare willingly.

"No need to look at me like that", hissed the fire-bender irritated.

"Oh, yes, there is. And you shall suffer for it", growled Jake irritated. "If you wouldn't have whined about it in front of my boyfriend, I wouldn't have to be here!"

"Oh, you two shut up", hissed their sister with the darkest glare. "You don't have to wear a ridiculous dress with flowers and frills!"

She looked down on herself depressed and pulled on one of the red roses. Clarisse came up next to her and clapped her on the shoulder, looking just as irritated by her own red dress.

"Look at me, girl, and tell me if I look happy about this", grunted the daughter of Ares. "And other than some of us", here she glared at Jake. "I didn't even get my boyfriend to come with me."

"Oh, I just wish I would have had Connor and Travis getting me arrested for the day", whined Nyssa. "For the first time, I wish I would have the tricksters getting me into trouble..."

The four fell back some, getting joined by Piper, who pulled at a pink ribbon on her dress.

"You know, I would complain too, but I'll refrain from it since Annie promised to do that thing that always was too kinky for her to do if I come along here", grinned the daughter of Aphrodite.

"Damn, that kinky thing must be very special if you pull through with putting a dress with frills and ribbons in pink on for it", chuckled Clarisse amused and raised one eyebrow.

"Oh, you have no idea", purred Piper with a Cheshire grin.

"Besides", hummed Jake, trying to ignore the picture forcing itself onto him. "I think from our little party here, there are actually only... five people who enjoy themselves."

The five of them turned to the front and glared at their other companies, nodding in agreement.

They were currently in New York attending a _Flower Festival_. All of this had started out with Persephone, who had read about it in the New York Times and whined until her mother got infected by it and her husband couldn't stand it any longer. Since it was a flower festival and Demeter was taking her immortal daughter, she felt obliged to also invite her not immortal children – there was that promise the gods had made to young Perseus years ago after all.

So this led to Katie and Miranda also tagging along. But they couldn't possibly go on their own. A trip to New York and beautiful, fancy dresses paid by their uncle (on insistence from his sister/mother-in-law) couldn't be enjoyed without their partners. So Miranda whined until Lou joined her. And the witch looked even only mildly annoyed as she walked next to her girlfriend in her fancy violet dress ("If you pay for our children's clothes, you will also pay for the clothes of the others!" - Demeter could be very demanding). While Miranda forced her girlfriend, Katie forced her boyfriend to tag along. Even though the son of Athena did look good in his smoking, he also looked as gloomy as the five in the back-row. So since watching flowers wasn't really Malcolm's thing, he persuaded his older sister into coming along. Annabeth was at least mildly interested and seeing as all others present were so nicely coupled up, she bribed her girlfriend with the promises of hot, steaming and kinky sex into coming along too.

Since Demeter brought her demi-god children, Hades felt obliged to take his children too (to tell the truth, since he was forced to go, he wanted to force his children to go and suffer too). Nico didn't put up much of a fight, because ever since Persephone stopped turning him into random flowers, he would never deny her anything anymore. And if it meant one weekend with his family and friends looking at flowers, then that was alright. And Hazel was completely okay with it anyway, she enjoyed spending time with her family in any way. But certainly not without her boyfriend. Frank wouldn't go there just like that, so he convinced his girlfriend to 'invite' the other Roman couple to this too. It was pretty hard to say no to Hazel, even impossible for Jason and Reyna. The son of Jupiter did look a bit sulky as he hung off his girlfriend's arm, but the female praetor looked even sulkier. The daughter of Bellona was the reason Clarisse participated in this torture, but it was hard to deny her female best friend – and since the Giant War was over, the two daughters of war were nearly inseparable. Reyna's boyfriend and Annabeth's girlfriend did enjoy forcing their third into this. There wasn't much Leo could say against it since his two best friends were miserable about this. The fire-bender was sulking so loudly about this that his older brother's boyfriend had heard it and was so into the idea that the two oldest children of Hephaestus had to tag along too.

So this little chain-reaction led to the most awkward field trip in the history of field trips. A happily glowing Persephone was hanging off her husband's arm, pointing from one float to the other. The normally dark and gloomy Lord of Darkness was even smiling slightly at her enthusiasm (perhaps he was awaiting the same reward as Piper later on...). Demeter was leading their little outing party, closely followed by her two demi-god daughters and her immortal daughter, all with their partners next to them, at least pretending to be interested. Malcolm and Lou were engaged in a conversation about some thing or another. Annabeth had been involved into this conversation until now too, but after she noticed that her girlfriend had ditched her, she tried to fall back some. Which proved to be hard with their big group. Will and Hazel were off a bit, talking about the medical herbs from one of the booths. Right behind them were Nico, Frank, Jason and Reyna, with their hands deep in their pockets, looking a bit bored, but still talking animatedly. And that was where Annabeth was stuck at the moment, talking to Reyna, asking her where the 'pouting ones' were. The two females split from the group to look for the others.

"There you guys are!", chided the daughter of Athena, tugging at her silvery-gray dress.

"Hello, love", grinned Piper and leaned in to kiss her girlfriend, fighting with her pink dress. "We were just... admiring the tulips here."

"Right", snorted Reyna and hit Clarisse's upper arm. "You guys were ranting and pouting about being here. Guess who's just as unhappy as you! Right. Nearly everybody else."

"Now you're being pessimistic", snickered Nyssa and slung her arms around both of them, guiding the daughters of war through the crowd. "Look at them. They're happy."

"But they are the only ones", muttered Jason as his girlfriend was finally in reach again.

He snatched Reyna away from the daughter of Hephaestus and kissed her lightly.

"Oh, stop your stupid PDA", growled the Ghost Prince next to him irritated and glared.

"Aw, look who's all grumpy because he can't suck faces with his beloved Sea Prince", snickered Clarisse and elbowed him.

"Don't be mean, I feel kind of bad for him", hummed Annabeth, her fingers linked with Piper. "Don't know what I would do if I hadn't found her."

"You're so cute", grinned the daughter of Aphrodite and kissed her. "And you will look so hot in that Sailor Moon outfit..."

"Oh gods, please spare us the details!", groaned Jake crossed out.

"What? No! I want more details!", grinned his younger brother broadly, pushing between them and winking at his female best friend. "So... You going to be Tuxedo Mask?"

"Shut your mouth, Valdez", hissed Piper irritated. "I'll be Star Fighter!"

Jake rolled his eyes at his friends' antics and sped up some, catching his blonde lover by surprise by wrapping his arms around the slender waist. Will grinned and leaned up to kiss the tinkerer. Hazel next to them chuckled slightly amused and shook her head, her eyes sweeping over to where Jake had come from, catching on the frowning face of her brother. While the daughter of Athena tugged at her girlfriend's hand and urged her to get back to the front with her, Nyssa, Reyna and Clarisse did their best to fall back again. Frank grinned and waved the daughter of Pluto over to them. A slight smile on her lips, she made her way over to them, being passed by Leo and Jason who seemed pretty interested in the half-naked dancers with flowers as bras.

"What's up with you, Nico?", asked Hazel as the four caught up to her.

While her boyfriend laid one arm around her waist, the blonde female next to him grinned.

"You know him best, he's moping because a certain someone is not around", snickered Annabeth.

"Oh, the tragic love of Nico and Percy", sighed Piper theatrically. "William himself would have been unable to write this tragic out!"

"You can be such a dickhead, McLean", growled the moody Ghost Prince. "Why can't you just leave it alone? See, that's the reason I spend most of my time in the underworld..."

"As long as a certain someone isn't at camp. Because then you suddenly find our company highly interesting. Or rather, his company", smirked the daughter of Athena with a wink. "Oh come on, Nico. We're your friends, we only tease you to edge you on a bit. You need to act on your feelings finally. I mean... He's oblivious. He will never catch on on his own. You need to tell him."

"How am I supposed to tell him, Annie?", sighed the son of Hades and shook his head, hitting Leo upside the head as they passed the fire-bender and the blonde praetor. "Stop staring like that, that's impolite. And come along. We need to catch up with dad and the others, or don't you want food?"

Food was what got the son of Hephaestus. The Latino grinned broadly and rubbed the back of his head, linking arms with his best friend to pull Jason along before turning back some.

"Sis! Food!", called the fire-bender to catch the attention of the three loitering females.

Nyssa's head snapped up and she blinked at them, taking the lead with the two daughters of war closely following. The fancy restaurants and the good food were the main reason why some of them haven't ditched this weekend trip yet (that and the threats from their friends and lovers).

"So, what's it today?", grinned Clarisse.

"We'll go to that Greek restaurant Malcolm had suggested earlier", answered Hazel.

"Stop delaying the main topic of this conversation with food", hissed Annabeth disappointed and hit the Ghost Prince. "You very well can tell him. You just need to say: I love you. And just like that, he's all yours."

"You make love sound so simple", grunted the half-Italian darkly. "Besides, it's meaningless at the moment anyway since he's visiting his father and won't return for a while. So there is nothing to confess without someone to confess to. Can we now just go to enjoy the day, please?"

The blonde bit her lips and looked at him worried. She really wanted for them to be happy. But for that, one of them needed to make the first step. And if they didn't do that soon, Annabeth would personally lock them together into one room until they fucked each other's brains out! They had been dancing around each other since the Titan War had been over, after all. And that was three years ago now. They had already won the next war and finally reached some peace.

/break\

As the last two days and thus the last five meals, they occupied the largest table. With Lou sitting at the head next to her girlfriend. The Gardner-sister sat next to each other, Malcolm to Katie's right. The two children of Athena were also sitting next to each other, Annabeth having her girlfriend on her other side. Piper was busy teasing Leo since the children of Hephaestus were sitting on her right, Nyssa between her brothers and Will on the farthest outer side next to his boyfriend.

Opposite the two daughters of Demeter were Demeter herself and the immortal daughter of Demeter. Persephone was whispering loving nonsense into her husband's ear as thanks for the weekend. Nico on his father's other side tried to blend that out and concentrated on his sister next to him. But Hazel was too occupied by Frank, since the son of Jupiter beside him was too busy trying to gain his own girlfriend's attention. Though it seemed the conversation Reyna was having with Clarisse next to her was way more interesting than any attempt of the blonde Roman to kiss her. Perhaps she was still a bit angry at him for staring at the half-naked dancers earlier.

"You lot look like the oddest school trip ever. Or the biggest, most incestuous patch-work-family, even rivaling the Cullens", commented a voice behind the daughter of Athena.

The blonde Greek whirled around and stared wide-eyed at the cheekily grinning girl.

"Rachel! What are you doing here?", asked Annabeth and stood up to hug her.

"I'm... The better question would be, what exactly are you all doing here?", grunted the ginger and dodged the question, instead rather hugging her blonde friend.

"It started as a family outing", drawled the Ghost Prince opposite the wise girl. "And... well, as you see more and more joined in on that happy occasion. Back to you. Are you willingly spending time with your parents or what?"

"What? No", snorted the Oracle of Delphi and rolled her eyes. "I'm spending time with my favorite parents, not with my biological ones."

It wasn't hard for the half-Italian to piece together what she was saying and he bolted up some, searching the restaurant with his eyes for his beloved Sea Prince. But he only spotted Paul and Sally. Though seeing as Percy had said he would spend the summer at his father's, it wasn't that surprising that the son of Poseidon wasn't there. Nonetheless he stood up and walked around the table to first hug Rachel and then shake hands with Paul. As he extended his hand to greet Sally, the woman pulled him into a tight bear hug.

"He already has his in-laws, that's good", whispered Hades into his wife's ear with a smirk.

"Better than you have been back then", chuckled the Spring Goddess.

"Would you like to join us?", asked Demeter, ignoring her brother and her daughter.

Sally looked at her, her eyes wandering over the very full table sceptically. Hades followed her gaze and frowned at that. Then he stood and waved a waiter over.

"Another table", ordered the Lord of Death.

The little man nodded hastily and ran off to carry an additional table to the far end of their party. Rachel grinned as she sat down next to Will and opposite of Paul. Sally took the place on the head of the table. Nico tried to scoot closer, practically laying over his sister and her boyfriend.

"How is Percy?", asked the Ghost Prince, trying to sound casually and failing miserably.

Sally's soft blue eyes hardened a bit as she looked up and frowned at him. Now that he took a closer look at her, he noticed her worn-out face. She looked distraught, stressed. Something was wrong.

"That was very insensitive of you!", hissed Rachel irritated. "How can you be such a jerk?"

The waiters brought soups for everyone, trying to not be seen since the head of this odd family scared them to death (too sad they didn't see the irony in that). Taking his spoon, the Ghost Prince started to tap it nervously against his bowl of soup. Was something wrong with Percy?

"You tell me, Nico", smiled Sally sadly.

"Tell you what?", asked the son of Hades confused.

"How our son is", grunted Paul with a glare.

"So you do have secret meetings with Percy, you Casanova", giggled Annabeth and poked his chest.

"I... No", blinked Nico and blushed embarrassed. "I haven't seen him in weeks."

"What?", chorused Sally, Paul and Rachel confused.

"Wait", interrupted the oracle slowly. "How long have you been up here...?"

"Since Friday, the festival", answered Hazel with a smile. "Why?"

"Oh, gods, seaweed brain", groaned the red-head and shook her head.

"But... But that means he stays down there alone at the moment?", gasped Sally worried.

"Excuse me, but... What's going on?", asked Leo completely confused.

"Well... That's actually a longer story", sighed Paul and massaged his temples.

The demi-gods and gods slowly sipped their soups, staring expectantly at the three mortals.

"Is something wrong with Percy?", asked Annabeth worried. "He hadn't called in a while. But I thought it was because he was so busy with his father and Tyson... Did something happen?"

Everyone seemed to edge closer to hear what Percy's mother had to say.

"A week ago, Percy returned home", started Sally gravely, her eyes downcast to stare into her soup.

"But why isn't he with you then?", interrupted Lou perplex.

"Let her continue", chided her girlfriend and rolled her eyes.

"Percy returned home, completely distressed", continued Sally. "It was because of his father."

"Oh yes, my brother", chuckled Hades slightly amused. "What did he do?"

"Let her continue", hissed Demeter and Persephone irritated.

"His father had always been a bit... obsessed with the idea of Percy becoming immortal..."

"Really?", snorted Malcolm and rolled his eyes. "Just because he votes for Percy getting offered godhood after every victorious war..."

"Let her continue!", growled Katie and Annabeth on each side of him and glared.

"Anyway", sighed the mortal woman and continued. "He was set on the idea that he had found the perfect solution for that problem. He arranged Percy's marriage with Lord Triton."

"His brother?", grunted Frank and Clarisse with crossed-out looks on their faces.

"Gross", exclaimed the three children of Hephaestus as they shuddered violently at the thought of marrying one of their present siblings.

"Let. Her. Continue!", exclaimed Hazel, Jason, Reyna, Piper and Will loudly.

Sally smiled softly at their eagerness and worry, sipping her soup while they kept glaring at each other. She knew that those were the people her son considered family.

"This was his way of killing two birds with one stone, after all", kept Sally going, ignoring their little quarreling. "He wanted Percy as his heir and immortal, but he couldn't go over Lord Triton. So he set them up. And he didn't accept no as an answer. So Percy ran away and... cried in my lap like he hadn't done since he was a little boy..." Sadness clouded her eyes at that memory. "But Poseidon found him, of course. And he took him back to the underwater palace. Not even listening to my complains about this!" Her sadness was replaced by rage. "So Percy ran away again. But he only stopped by to... say good bye and explain his plan..."

She paused for a second, pressing her eyes close at the thought of her last moment with her son. Nico was practically sitting on her lap now, staring so intensely at her. Oh, Sally knew why.

"Well? What was the plan?", asked the Ghost Prince once the pause had become too long to bear.

"Why can't you guys just let her continue?", sighed Rachel irritated and hit the son of Hades upside the head since the boy was half laying across her to stare at Sally.

"He remembered the tale of you, Lady Persephone. How after you ate the food of the underworld, not even the almighty Lord Zeus could go against the rules. And... He saw no other way out of his father's wishes so he took Mrs. O'Leary to go to the underworld... That was yesterday."

"Oh, come on", groaned Annabeth and leaned back. "That's the reason we never let seaweed brain make any plans..."

Nico bolted up, nearly throwing the oracle off her chair.

"Where do you think you're going, young man?", asked his step-mother with a sharp edge in her voice, staring at him irritated. "You are not ditching this family outing!"

"I'll go to the underworld and pray to every god listening that Percy had spend the last day looking all over the palace for us and didn't find any food yet!", declared the Ghost Prince finally.

Persephone blinked a few times surprised at his harsh tone. Though she saw the honestly worried and frantic look in the dark eyes of her step-son. She knew about the deep feelings Nico had for the son of Poseidon and she could picture what was going on in his head at the moment. She nodded.

"But", threw the Queen of the Underworld in before he could leave. "If he already ate anything, at least be a good host, Nico."

"Yes, 'Phone", nodded the son of Hades slowly.

He was grateful that she understood. Within a second he was through the next shadow. Closing his eyes tightly, he concentrated on the one place where he wanted to be the most: Next to his Sea Prince. He needed to get to Percy before the stupid moron found their kitchen and their fridge. Because regardless of how much he loved the idea of Percy being with him forever, he knew the son of Poseidon better than that. The savior of Olympus loved his freedom. And even though the prison was chosen by himself, it was nonetheless a prison.

He came crashing down through the shadows on the ceiling, the bed groaning under his weight. No. That was not the bed. Blinking a few times, he opened his eyes and stared down at Percy.

"Ouch...", murmured the son of Poseidon, looking up at him. "N... Nico...?"

"Perce!", exclaimed the Ghost Prince, sitting up.

He straddled the older half-blood's waist, locking eyes with the most beautiful sea-green eyes on this planet. A slight blush started covering the Sea Prince's cheeks.

"Uh... Could you... Uh...?", stuttered the confused green-eyed demi-god.

"No! I need to stop you from eating anything here!", declared Nico darkly.

"A... little late for that", blinked Percy and turned his head.

Tartarus-dark eyes followed the Sea Prince's gaze to an empty plate with crumbles on it. And an empty bowl of soup next to it. And an empty cereal's bowl. And a plate with a half-eaten sandwich.

"How long have you been here...?", asked the Ghost Prince slowly.

"Since yesterday afternoon... How do you know that I'm here?"

The son of Hades sighed gravely and leaned back some, propping himself with his hands between the Sea Prince's knees. Percy tilted his head curiously at the half-Italian.

"We... have been on a family outing and met your parents there and Sally told us about it... If I would have known earlier, I would have come yesterday to stop you!"

"To... stop me?", repeated Percy slowly and sat up too. "And would you mind getting off?"

"Oh, sure, sorry, Perce", nodded the Ghost Prince.

Actually he would have enjoyed to stay where he was. But this conversation was more important than his dirty mind so he rolled over to lay down next to his Sea Prince.

"So... Why would you stop me? I mean, mom told you, right?"

"She did", nodded the son of Hades. "But that doesn't change that you're a moron. You just imprisoned yourself for the rest of your life, which by the way may last quite long since you are down here and... you can't die in the underworld."

"Ni—ico", sighed Percy, drawling the name. "I'd rather spend the eternity down here with you than spending one lifetime as Triton's _wife_."

"You do?", asked the half-Italian and blinked surprised.

"Of course", grunted the son of Poseidon and rolled his eyes. "You guys are great. I mean, you and Hazel are two of my best friends and you can at least provide me with some input on the camps."

Of course that dense hero was talking about them as friends. How could Percy ever see more in him than that? Nico sighed frustrated and buried his face in his hands.

"You're stupid, Percy. So stupid", sighed the Ghost Prince and shook his head.

"Why are you saying that?", asked Percy slightly hurt and turned to face the other.

"Because you're... going to make yourself unhappy, Perce", whispered Nico with a frown, looking deep into the sea-green depths. "You can't stay down here forever. Your element is the sea. Here is no sea. Your parents can't get down here and you can't go to camp. Even if you're not regretting it now, you will. One day. In a few weeks, or months, or years, that doesn't matter."

"Then let's worry about that once this day arrives, okay?", suggested the Sea Prince.

"Okay", agreed the son of Hades reluctantly.

/break\

Hades was sitting on the black leather couch in his living room, his wife and his sister on either side of him, both prying for the popcorn in the bowl on his lap. The two smaller couches left and right from this couch, together with the bigger one forming an 'U', were occupied by demi-gods. On the one next to Demeter laid Frank, with Hazel between his legs, resting her head on his chest. Nico and Percy were sitting on the other couch, with the Ghost Prince pressed against the backrest and the son of Poseidon laying in front of him, nearly falling off the couch if not for the strong arms circling his waist and holding him close. The Death God took a deep breath, bracing himself for what was bound to come next, as it always did on the 'Family Sundays'.

"Da~addy", drawled Hazel in her sweetest voice. "I want to watch _Princess and the Frog_!"

"No, not again", groaned her older brother. "I want _Nightmare Before Christmas_!"

"Right", snorted Frank with a glare. "You just want to scare Percy again so he'll sneak into your bed. No, if anything we're watching _Mulan_."

Percy, brightly flushed by the Canadian's comment, sat up some to protest. "Certainly not! We had that one last week. I vote for _The Little Mermaid_!"

"Brother, we are watching _Alice in Wonderland_. I adore the talking flowers", declared Demeter.

"Not the version from the fifties", groaned her daughter with a pout. "Love, I want the Tim Burton version! Because if our life would be a movie, it would be directed by him!"

"You only say that because you want to be portrait by Helena Bonham Carter", grinned Nico and rolled his eyes at his stepmother.

"No!", yelped Persephone with a blush. "But Johnny Depp would be so good as your dad."

"As long as my hair is not set on blue fire", muttered Hades before coughing. "Anyway! If anything, I decide what we're watching. And I say that we will watch _Corpse Bride_."

Everyone groaned. The Lord of Darkness got up to find the DVD and put it into the DVD player. Still flustered because of Frank's earlier comment, the Sea Prince laid down again and snuggled just the slightest bit closer to Nico. It wasn't his fault that this movie always frightened him, he knew that ghosts and walking skeletons and creepy, stitched-up zombies were real and that made even a children's movie scary. He still remembered vividly how they had first watched the movie, back in the first week of his stay in the underworld palace...

/flashback\

_The Sea Prince walked through the dark and shadowy halls of the palace, hugging himself tightly. This palace was not helping him any! But he hadn't been able to stay in the room that he had been given from the family of death. The shadows were so long and creepy and he had been all on his own in the big bedroom. Sure, he had been very grateful that they had given him such a spacious and pompous bedroom instead of locking him into the dungeons (the first suggestion by his uncle back then), but at the moment it was too spacious for him. Normally when he was afraid of something, he would go to his mom and they would spend the night eating ice-cream in the living room. But... he wasn't home anymore. He was living with his uncle now._

_Something Nico had said to him shortly after he had arrived here came to his mind. One day he would regret his decision. Perhaps that day had come now. Shuddering slightly at the chilly night, he made his way downstairs. Maybe there was some chocolate ice left in the fridge?_

"_You shouldn't wander around the castle at night."_

_He nearly jumped out of his skin and yelped in a very girly way, whirling around in panic. Wide, fearful sea-green eyes stared at the laughing Ghost Prince and instantly filled with relief. The son of Poseidon fell back onto his behind, sighing at the sight of his friend._

"_N—Nico, what are you doing here?", whispered Percy._

_The son of Hades offered him a hand to pull the older demi-god off the floor._

"_I was still awake and heard your door, so I thought I might check where you're going at that late hour", chuckled the half-Italian amused. "So. What are you doing wandering around?"_

"_I... Uh... I couldn't sleep", muttered the Sea Prince embarrassed._

"_You're... scared because of the movie?", concluded Nico astonished._

"_Look, I'm not a chick!", grunted the son of Poseidon defensively. "But... Such movies are scary when you live in the freaking realm of zombies and walking corpses!"_

"_So you thought wandering around helps?", snorted the Ghost Prince ridiculed._

"_I... No", sighed Percy and rubbed his eyes tired. "I don't know what I thought, but I couldn't stay alone in that room any longer..."_

"_Then why didn't you come to me?", asked the half-Italian curiously._

"_To... you...?", repeated the green-eyed boy stunned._

"_Of course, seaweed brain", grunted Nico slightly offended. "We're friends. And if anyone can hold the ghosts and zombies off down here, it's me. Or my father. But I doubt you want to disturb him and Persephone at night, if you know what I mean."_

_Percy blushed slightly and looked at him thoughtful. He couldn't possibly say yes. It wasn't that he didn't like the Ghost Prince. More so the opposite actually._

"_No, it's alright. I'll just go back and try to sleep", smiled the son of Poseidon strained._

_Though just at that moment, one of the night guards decided to pass them. A skeleton soldier. The empty sockets staring at him made the Sea Prince shudder and involuntarily hide behind the son of Hades. Nico chuckled at that and linked their fingers._

"_You're staying with me tonight, no protests."_

_Nodding reluctantly, the Sea Prince followed his secret crush to the bedroom right next to his own. While they – Hazel, Frank, Nico and Percy together – had painted the Sea Prince's room in a bright, blue color, Demeter and Persephone were delighted at the prospect of going shopping for the son of Poseidon so his bedsheets and curtains and everything matched the boy's taste. Nico's room on the other hand was black and gloomy, the way it ought to be according to the Ghost Prince. In the middle of the room stood a big four-poster bed with black silken sheets. The son of Hades maneuvered his Sea Prince to the bed and laid down himself. It took the green-eyed boy a moment before he followed his friend and laid on the farthest outer side._

"_You're going to fall off the bed", commented Nico skeptically. "I won't bite."_

_Percy felt stupid for being reluctant and embarrassed like that, but he still was a teenage boy with hormones and sleeping in one bed with his long-time crush was most likely resulting in a very embarrassing problem. Especially since the half-Italian was only wearing his _Nightmare Before Christmas_ boxer-shorts. And over the course of the Giant War, the Ghost Prince had not only grown way too much, no he had also gained a remarkably trained body. A trail of black curly hair was leading from the well-defined six-pack down to the waistband of the boxer-shorts, making Percy's mouth water at the thought of what was hidden beneath the cloth._

"_You know, you shouldn't let 'Phone go and buy your clothes", grinned the son of Hades._

"_Why?", blinked the Sea Prince confused. "She brought what I asked her to..."_

_Nico stared at him surprised before he started laughing loudly. Frowning at his friend's odd behavior, the son of Poseidon looked down at himself and pulled his sky-blue _Little Mermaid_ pajamas some to look at the printing of Ariel and Eric on the front._

"_You're wearing Disney clothes too, so stop making fun of me", pouted Percy._

"_I'm not making fun of you, princess", grinned the half-Italian and wrapped his arms around the green-eyed teen's waist to pull him close. "I just find it cute."_

_The blush on his sun-kissed cheeks darkened some more and Percy tried to hide his face in his Ghost Prince's chest. Why did his friends always have to mock him?_

"_Not cute...", murmured the Sea Prince stubbornly and yawned._

"_Sleep well, princess", whispered Nico and ran his fingers through the black hair._

_Within a few seconds, the older half-blood was out like a candle and snuggled even closer to the son of Hades, enjoying the safe feeling provided by the boy from the thirties._

/back|to|now\

Percy yawned tiredly and cuddled up to the Ghost Prince, burying his head in the crook of Nico's neck, his eyes long since closed. The son of Hades grinned broadly, holding close to his Sea Prince. Perhaps he had been wrong after all. It had been months now and it didn't seem that the son of Poseidon missed the world above. Though maybe the reason for that was that Annabeth had established Mrs. O'Leary as means of transportation between camp and the underworld so the friends could visit Percy. So everything had gone better than expected. At least until now.

"Is he asleep again?", grunted Hades skeptically.

"I guess that's the underworld taking it's toll on him", murmured Nico worried.

"Don't worry so much, Nico", hummed his stepmother reassuringly. "He will get used to it with the time. It took me a couple of years to get used to it too."

"Get him to bed, Nico", ordered Demeter irritated. "Sleeping on the couch is unhealthy. Go, boy."

"Yes, ma'am", nodded the Ghost Prince and stood.

He lifted his secret love into his arms to carry the boy back to his room. It were moments like those that made him fear that the underworld may destroy the Sea Prince. It made the boy so tired. Of course, they did their best to lift his mood and keep him as happy as possible (Hades mostly so because both, his son and his brother, kept glaring at him so angrily). They had even gotten Percy a sea-water pool in the back-yard of the palace for his nineteenth birthday a few weeks earlier. Once they reached the bedroom, Nico tried to lay the boy he loved down and get away.

"Stay...", mumbled Percy sleepily, obviously having woken up because of all the movement.

"What, Percy?", asked the son of Hades confused.

"You know what those movies do to me", muttered the Sea Prince slightly flustered and sat up, his fingers around the olive-skinned wrist. "Can you... stay...?"

"Of course", grinned Nico broadly and got into the bed.

The son of Poseidon scooted closer until he was tightly cuddled against his Ghost Prince. Within a second, he was deep asleep. Nico chuckled amused and wrapped his arms around Percy to pull him closer. Closing his own eyes to sleep, he found it impossible. The last time he had shared a bed with his Sea Prince had resulted in a very sticky problem for the son of Hades and he still thanked the gods that he had woken up early enough to take a shower and get rid of the evidence. He couldn't risk that again. Besides, he wanted to keep an eye on Percy. He had noticed that his Sea Prince frequently had nightmares about the underworld. The zombies and skeletons and the fact that he was separated from his element really took their toll on him. That was probably also the reason why the teen was sleeping so much. A whimper redirected his attention back to the boy in his arms.

"No...", whined the Sea Prince.

Nico frowned and sat up hastily, wanting to wake the son of Poseidon. But then the teen turned and clawed at him, moaning. In pain? Was it another nightmare?

"Don't stop, Nico", groaned the hero hoarsely, rubbing against Nico.

Rubbing his erection against Nico's leg, to be more precisely. The Ghost Prince gulped wide-eyed, suddenly not so eager to wake the other teen. Instead, he leaned in some more to hear what the green-eyed boy was saying, wrapping his arms around Percy some more, earning him a moan.

"Please, Nico", mewed the son of Poseidon wantonly. "Fuck me... Harder, please..."

Okay, so that was really unexpected. He gulped hard, feeling himself getting aroused by the sounds his Sea Prince was making. Biting his lips in guilt, he let his hands wander a bit to touch the sensitive spot on Percy's lower back. Coupled with the teen's wet-dream, the Sea Prince came. It was time to leave. Before Nico would ravish the son of Poseidon right away.

/break\

Percy blinked confused and stretched, touching his bed for another body. He was pretty sure that Nico had fallen asleep with him last night. Because he had asked his Ghost Prince to. And the son of Hades wouldn't have just left him alone. Sitting up, he noticed that his boxer-shorts were sticky. Great. He has had another wet dream about Nico last night! Gods! No, if Nico had noticed it... How embarrassing would that have been. Horrible. He buried his head in his hands.

"Percy? Are you awake?", asked a curious voice.

"What? Hazel?! Yes!", yelped the flustered boy, hiding the wet spot with his sheets.

The Roman entered, carrying a large clothing bag inside and laying it on the bed.

"Persephone just went and fetched our costumed for tonight", smiled Hazel.

Tonight. The great Christmas ball of the Underworld. Actually, it was also the first of that kind. But seeing as Percy was, for the first time in his life, unable to celebrate with his mother, his friends had decided to throw a big Christmas party in the underworld palace. The three gods had agreed to transport the campers to the palace later that night, together with much, much food so no one else would be stuck because they ate the wrong thing. It was also decided that this had to be a costume ball. And since Frank, Hazel, Nico and Percy spend so much time watching the Disney-movie collection from Persephone, they thought a Disney-theme would be quite funny.

"Really?", blinked Percy confused, looking at her. "But I didn't tell her who I wanted to be..."

"Don't worry", grinned the daughter of Pluto. "We chose it for you. And you should get ready."

"Ready? Now? Are you nuts? It's morning", grunted the Sea Prince.

"First, it's noon. Second, you need to get bathed, shaved, dressed, your hair needs to be done, you need to get the make-up done and then the others will soon come too", snorted the Roman girl and rolled her eyes at him.

"What do you mean with shave? I don't grow a beard, you know that", mumbled Percy confused and ran his fingers over his chin, knowing he never got stubbles.

"Your legs, dummy", giggled Hazel. "And... everything else you may want to have ready, in case..."

"Now you've lost it completely. I'm not a girl!", exclaimed the son of Poseidon flustered.

"Just... look into the bag and say that again", grinned the dark-skinned girl and left.

Percy frowned and opened the bag, his eyes nearly popping out. "You've got to be kidding me..."

/break\

Six hours later had Percy stumbling towards the stairs. The chandeliers colored everything in a soft light. Once he reached the stairs, he saw the crowd downstairs. There was a buffet out there, surrounded by happily chatting demi-gods. A bright smile lit his face. They were doing this for him. He really had the best friends ever.

"You mind me accompanying you?", asked the dark voice of his Ghost Prince.

The son of Poseidon turned slowly to look at Nico. Sea-green eyes widened.

"You're Eric!", exclaimed Percy undignified with a blush.

"Of course", chuckled the son of Hades and rolled his eyes. "Who do you think picked your dress?"

The blush darkened some more as he looked down on himself and the pink dress he was wearing. Nico coughed slightly and offered him his arm. A small grin tugged on his lips and Percy took the arm. Together they climbed down the stairs, heading for a group of their friends.

"So... Percy... You look... nice", commented Jason with one raised eyebrow.

"And you look like a moron", snickered Percy. "Are you seriously dressed as your half-brother?"

"Don't say anything about _Hercules_. The movie had the greatest songs!", pouted the Roman.

"Objection!", exclaimed Frank next to him. "_Mulan_ had!"

"Then why are you dressed as Prince Naveen and not as Shang?", asked Nico amused.

"Because he loves me", chimed Hazel happily. "And I love _Princess and the Frog_."

"You look great as Tiana!", grinned Annabeth, pushing her helmet back.

"I still think you would have made a great Charlotte", sighed the daughter of Pluto.

"Yes, but I'm not in for a crossover", warned Piper with a glare. "And she looks hot as John."

"As long as I get to see you in a short dress, I'm happy, Pips", grinned Annabeth.

"Still... _Pocahontas_?", grunted Reyna with a frown, tugging on her purple dress.

"She's a native-American Disney-princess. I know how wrong that movie was. Just like every other Disney-adaption of any, any, any tale ever, but still, she was great", grunted Piper. "Besides, you're dressed as a Greek slut, so shut up."

"Excuse me?!", grunted the daughter of Bellona with a glare. "How was Megara a slut?!"

"She was like the only Disney-girl that ever had a boyfriend before she got together with the hero! That makes her like the slut of Disney-movies!", retorted the native-American girl.

"Do you want to dance, my princess?", asked Nico and turned to Percy.

"Yes, please. Get me out of here! Our friends are crazy!", agreed the Sea Prince wide-eyed.

The son of Hades took Percy's one hand into his own and rested his other hand on the green-eyed boy's hips, leading the dance while soft music was playing. Percy looked up at him dreamily. This was perfect. He was dancing with his Ghost Prince. Aside from the fact that he was wearing a dress and high-heels. But other than that, it was perfect. Nico looked so handsome in that suit.

"I thought you wanted to be that creepy skeleton-guy", whispered Percy.

"But you wanted for us to be dressed as Ariel and Eric", shrugged the son of Hades.

"Yeah, but was more of a... joke...", mumbled the Sea Prince and blushed slightly.

"But it's part of my present for you", whispered Nico into his ear.

"But... But I don't have anything for you..."

Percy bit his lips and lowered his gaze. How was he supposed to get presents now that he was stuck in the underworld? He couldn't go shopping like that.

"Don't worry about that, my present for you is also kind of a little selfish... You'll see. Later."

"You can't make me curious like that and then let me wait!", yelped Percy annoyed.

"Yes, I can", grinned Nico wickedly. "Just you wait for midnight."

/break\

And waiting he did. They ate and danced even more and talked – so many things had happened at the camps and it was so good to have his friends there to tell him all about them. Midnight came faster than expected and with midnight, it was officially Christmas day. They couldn't do that party at the actual Christmas eve since most had their own plans with their families then. So they had pulled Christmas forward one day. But gifts could only be exchanged on the day of Christmas. Percy turned curiously to Nico to ask him for that present, but the moment he opened his mouth to ask, he felt soft, cold lips pressing against his and strong arms encircling his waist.

"Merry Christmas, my princess", whispered the Ghost Prince hoarsely.

"W... What...", stuttered Percy doe-eyed.

"Well, we have been dating for the past six months. You can't deny that. Even if we never talked about it. I mean, seriously. We fed each other during meals, we cuddled together on the couch, we even often shared a bed", smirked Nico matter-of-factly. "And after I heard you last night moaning my name and begging me to fuck you, I figured it's finally time to take the next step. I just... didn't want to pressure you since you are stuck down here and couldn't possibly get away from me if you felt like you needed more time to think, so..."

"You're rambling", giggled the son of Poseidon and leaned up. "You're cute when you ramble. And thank you for being so decent and giving me time, but crap, I have been having dirty dreams about you for _years_ now! I'm oblivious, damn it, I didn't notice you were interested in me! Couldn't you have just pushed me against a wall and ravished me or something?!"

"I would gladly do that now", growled Nico into his ear. "But first we need to get rid of this stupid dress, because I really want to grope your ass, but that thing won't allow it."

"Getting rid of the dress, great idea", nodded the Sea Prince flustered.

"Come with me", whispered the son of Hades, pulling Percy with him out of the room.

They passed Persephone's garden and ultimately came to an halt in front of the sea-water pool with the hippocampi fountains. The son of Poseidon frowned confused, though his confusion was soon replaced by surprise as his dress slid down his body. Nico stood behind him and smirked, starting to get out of his own costume. The Sea Prince was blushing brightly and getting out of his heels as he watched with great interest how more and more of the half-Italian was being revealed.

"Wow...", muttered Percy and licked his lips at the sight of the other teen's muscular chest.

"See something you like?", chuckled the son of Hades highly amused and pushed his pants down.

"A... Absolutely", yelped the Sea Prince wide-eyed and gapingly stared between the olive-skinned legs and licked his lips once more. "Totally like I that do."

"You broke your English, Perce", laughed Nico and walked up to his Sea Prince, wrapping his arms around the smaller teen's waist, finally able to grope that ass. "And now let's get to the fun part."

"But... Uh... Why aren't we in your or my bedchamber for that...?", drawled Percy confused.

"Because I know about that underwater kiss between you and Annabeth", growled the son of Hades, obviously still jealous about the short-living relationship between the two friends.

"Oh...", nodding slowly, the Sea Prince blushed. "So you want an underwater-kiss of your own?"

"No", chuckled Nico amused. "I want an underwater-blowjob."

Wide, sea-green eyes stared up at him in disbelief and for a second, the son of Hades feared that he may have gone a bit too far with that request, but then Percy took his hand and pulled him along.

"Well then, get into that water. You already have the hard-on for that", grinned the Sea Prince broadly and pushed his Ghost Prince into the water, jumping after him.

"Wait, what?", yelped Nico as he hit the water, hastily re-surfacing again. "Why are you so eager?"

"Why not?", growled Percy seductively and wrapped his arms around the half-Italian's neck.

"I don't know, I didn't figure you for being so eager for something like that..."

"Well... there is something I would want in return", grinned the Sea Prince mischievously.

"Really?", asked the son of Hades intrigued, laying his arms around the slender waist. "What?"

"Shadow-traveling with Mrs. O'Leary had always been really awesome, like, you know, driving a roller-coaster so I've been wondering if, you know..."

"You want to shadow-travel with me?", asked Nico confused.

"No!", groaned Percy annoyed. "I want you to fuck me while we shadow travel."

"Oh... Oh! Oh, Hades yes!", grinned the Ghost Prince broadly and kissed his Sea Prince passionately. "And now get down there and start sucking, princess."

"Stop calling me a princess!", growled the son of Poseidon irritated. "Or I might bite _it_ off."

"But you look cute in that dress", shrugged Nico. "Besides, you want _it_ way too much to bite _it_ off."

Sea-green eyes were rolled at him and the Sea Prince dived down, grabbing the olive-skinned hips and licking his lips as he was face-to-dick with the one thing he wanted most. Then he opened his mouth and wrapped his lips around it, starting to lick and suck it.

"Oh, gods, yes", moaned Nico hoarsely, gripping the tiles hard. "I knew you would be good at that."

The sleek tongue of his Sea Prince was working wonders on him and the arousal of his lover caused the sea water around them to stir. Waves built up, shaking the son of Hades through so he had to let go. But the green-eyed demi-god controlled the water, supporting Nico even without him having to swim. The way the water licked his body was like the tender caress of a lover, adding to the stimulation he was receiving at the mouth of his newly gained boyfriend.

"Percy, yes", moaned the Ghost Prince in pure bliss as he ejaculated into the warm cavern.

He leaned back, the water serving as a backrest for him, while his Sea Prince re-surfaced, licking his lips eagerly and wrapping his arms around the younger half-blood.

"How was that for a Christmas present?", grinned Percy cheekily.

"Best. Present. Ever", groaned the son of Hades with a blissfully stupid grin.

"And how long do you think it'll take you until I get my present?", purred the Sea Prince, one hand slowly wandering down the half-Italian's body until it captured the deflating member.

"I tell you how you'll get me hard in no time at all", growled Nico and licked his lips. "There is something I really wanted to see for a long time now. Show it to me."

"And that would b-wow!", yelped Percy as the other half-blood lifted him up onto the side of the pool and draped the Sea Prince's legs over his shoulder. "What are you doing, Nico?!"

The son of Poseidon frowned and leaned back some to support himself with his elbows.

"Well, if you want me to fuck you while shadow-traveling it will be kind of dark and I won't get to see you. But I really want to see the hole I'll be filling first."

"W—What? No! You can't just look there, that's embarrassing!"

"You want me to fuck you, but you don't want me to look at you?", laughed Nico ridiculed.

He held to the edge and parted the cheeks in front of him to finally look at the nervously pulsing, pink puckered hole. That was what he wanted. It was so rosy and looked so tight.

"Are you finished looking soon?", whined the embarrassed demi-god.

"Hard as a rock", growled the Ghost Prince hungrily and grabbed the waist of his lover to pull him down into the pool again to get him close. "Let's get moving, babe."

"Oh my gods, just... seeing you-know-what is making you hard...?!", yelped Percy wide-eyed.

"Percy", chuckled Nico amused. "You have always been the only thing that made me hard. Just seeing you naked is arousing enough, but that is one part of you I've never seen before."

"Oh... Well, it's also... a part of me that you've never touched before", drawled the Sea Prince with a blush. "How about we change that too?"

"Sounds like a good plan to me", grinned the half-Italian.

His fingers found their way to the tight hole, slowly pushing into it to stretch it. The teen in his arms moaned, clinging more to him while the Ghost Prince swam to a darker part of the pool, the shadows closing in on them. Percy rubbed his erection against the younger half-blood's stomach, moaning shamelessly and enjoying the way Nico touched him. The son of Hades removed his fingers again and gripped his Sea Prince's waist, lowering the boy until his cock brushed against the green-eyed teen's entrance. Percy rocked his hips in need, scratching Nico's back with his nails. The moment the Ghost Prince's member entered the tightness was the same Nico choose to enter the shadows. A tingling sensation of ecstasy and adrenaline surged through their bodies, coupled with the new feeling of being united. For the first time, Nico felt how tight his beloved Sea Prince truly was, so much better than he had dreamed of. And for the first time, Percy felt how big his beloved Ghost Prince was, also so much better than he had ever dreamed of. That coupled with the naturally amazing feeling of shadow-traveling and the fact that the darkness in-between took all other senses away from them – no sound, no sight, no smells, no need to talk. Only feeling. Only the feeling of each other, of finally coming together like never before with the person they loved.

"Harder, gods, please, harder, Nico", whimpered the Sea Prince after what felt like hours.

Nico held tightly to the son of Poseidon and pondered the tightness hard. Rubbing against the muscular stomach of the half-Italian was enough touch for Percy to finally come after everything they had been doing tonight. Giving it another few thrusts, the Ghost Prince ejaculated deep within his Sea Prince, letting them fall through the shadows the moment his seed filled his lover.

"Oh gods, fuck yes", moaned Percy amazed as he hit the bed. "Best. Night. Ever."

"Agreed", murmured the son of Hades, looking down at his boyfriend beneath him before leaning down and kissing him hotly. "I love you so much, Perce."

"I—I love you too, Nico", smiled the Sea Prince softly.

Nico rolled them over so they were laying next to each other with Percy's head resting on his shoulder. Both grinned broadly and completely satisfied, the son of Poseidon drawing little signs on the still wet chest of his Ghost Prince, while Nico played a bit with the now loose and slick hole of his new boyfriend. For a while, both of them were too exhausted to talk at all because they had just overused their powers and fucked quite a while and hard.

"You know, I actually never had a hard time choosing the underworld", whispered Percy after a while. "I just... I thought it would mean I would get to spend eternity with you and... Honestly, that is all I ever wanted... I really love you, Nico..."

"I love you too, my princess", grinned the Ghost Prince and kissed the son of Poseidon.

"Oh gods!", yelped the older demi-god wide-eyed and sat up. "Our clothes! If someone finds them... Your father!"

"Perce", chuckled Nico soothingly. "You're really oblivious. Everyone knows that I love you. They're probably setting up a betting pool on who made the first move if they find our clothes."

"That is disturbing on so many levels", muttered Percy and slid back down into the arms of his lover, cuddling close. "Let's sleep and pretend that we have normal friends, yes?"

"Good idea. Good night, my princess."

"Stop calling me that or I may not feel in the mood for morning sex tomorrow."

"Now you're being cruel, Perce."

_~*~ The End ~*~_


End file.
